Big Kids, Little Kids
by misspatchesmom
Summary: Family fluff and fun at Ducky's condo for a Labor Day picnic; part of the "You Complete Me" universe.


Big Kids, Little Kids

 _Family fun and fluff at Ducky's condo; Labor Day 2019_

"Welcome all!" Ducky Mallard opened his front door to welcome the DiNozzo and McGee families to his condo for the family's Labor Day cookout. Ziva and Tony were carrying salads and beverages, and Tim had a large carved watermelon fruit bowl in his hands. Delilah had two apple pies in a carrier in her lap as she wheeled up the ramp to Ducky's door.

"Hi, Grandducky!" Five year old Tali and two year old Anthony gave the old doctor hugs as four year old Tori Palmer skipped into the entry way to greet her friend Tali. Twenty one month old John and Katie McGee followed their older cousins to the play area Ducky had set aside for them all. Sixteen month old Charles followed his big sister.

Ziva gave Ducky a kiss on the cheek, and then motioned to Tony to take the food to the kitchen. Breena and Jimmy were in the kitchen helping Gibbs get the hamburger patties and hot dogs ready for the grill.

"Hey, everyone. Ziva, put the salads on the breakfast bar. Tony, you can put the beverages on the counter by the fridge. Tim, the fruit can go by the salads and Dee, we'll put the pies on the fridge to keep little hands out of them." Breena greeted her sisters and brothers of the heart.

Jimmy shrugged and smiled at his friends, "I'm just a kitchen worker today." He and Gibbs took the plates of meat out on the patio to cook on the grill.

Ziva was about to hug Breena when two wails from the play area had all of the mothers moving to see who had cried out.

"Ima, Charles hurt me." Anthony pointed to the bright red spot on his upper arm where Charles had pinched him. Ziva hugged her son and wiped his tears from his face.

"Why is Charles crying?" Ziva looked at Anthony.

"I pushed him. I'm sorry, Ima."

Breena scooped up Charles, "No pinching." Charles looked at his mother through his tears, and smiled. Then he pinched her upper arm with his chubby fingers. "No, Charles." She took him to another room while Ziva encouraged the others to go back to playing.

Tony and Tim had heard the commotion from the living room, where they were setting up Ducky's new TV and DVD player. They were watching the interaction of the kids when Charles got in trouble. Tori turned to Tali, "Charles is bad. He pinches everybody and it hurts. Yesterday he was in time out for a long time."

Figuring the kids were okay, they went back to the task at hand. They had just finished checking the DVD player when Ducky called them all to the table. Ziva and Delilah helped each of the kids wash their hands and take a seat at the table. Anthony, John and Katie had booster seats to help them reach the table. Jimmy and Gibbs were bringing the plates of hamburgers and hot dogs from the grill. Breena put Charles in his high chair. Ducky sat at the head of the table and Gibbs at the opposite end. The family joined hands around the table as Ducky said a blessing.

Anthony ate a hamburger and a hot dog, roll and all, and Tim and Jimmy teased Tony about his son's appetite. Ziva laughed, "He has always had a good appetite. He takes after his Abba." After the meal, Ziva and Delilah helped Breena put the leftover food away. Gibbs cleaned the grill, while Jimmy, Tim and Tony set up the kiddie pools and sprinkler in Ducky's small backyard. The kids had corralled Ducky into the play area and the girls were having a pretend tea party with Grandducky. Anthony and John played with the blocks and cars, and tried to get Charles to play with them. Charles hung on Ducky's leg and watched his cousins.

"Who wants to play in the water?" Tony called inside the patio door. A chorus of five "ME, ME!" from the kids answered him. Ziva, Delilah and Breena helped the kids take off shorts and shirts as all had worn bathing suits underneath when they came over. Only Charles needed to be changed into swim wear and a swim diaper. Delilah took clothing and placed it on the side table as Ziva helped the younger kids use the bathroom before going outside. Tony and Tim had taken off their t shirts, ready to play with the kids. As each child went outside, the two fathers made sure they had sunscreen and then sent them to Jimmy in the yard.

When all the kids were outside, Tony and Tim headed to the yard with Super-Soaker water guns. Ziva, Delilah and Breena exchanged grins over their three big kids. "I think those three have more fun than the kids," Ziva remarked. Delilah nodded her agreement, and Breena laughed.

Tony, Tim, and Jimmy were shooting streams of water at all of the kids as they ran through the sprinkler and splashed in the kiddie pools. Squeals of laughter filled the air and Gibbs smiled. "The happiest sound in the world," Gibbs remarked to no one in particular.

"Indeed it is," Ducky smiled at his longtime friend. "Children's laughter is medicine for the soul."

Ziva smiled at Gibbs and Ducky, and put her hand on her baby bump. At fourteen to fifteen weeks pregnant, she and Tony had found out on Friday that they were expecting twins. They were planning to share the news with the family at the gathering at Ducky's condo.

Gibbs noticed Ziva, "How are you feeling, Ziva?"

"Great, Abba. We were going to wait until later today, but I can tell you now. We are having identical twins!" Ziva looked at Gibbs and Ducky grinning. "We are also very sure they are girls."

Delilah hugged her sister, "Wow, another set of twins in the family! Have you picked out names yet?"

Ziva nodded, "We are going to name them after our mothers; Rivka and Elizabeth. We have not picked middle names yet, although Tony likes Rivka Abigail, and I like Elizabeth Shannon. We are still deciding."

Gibbs walked over to Ziva and hugged her, "Congratulations, Ziver. And I would be honored if you choose Shannon as a middle name."

"Toda, Abba."

Ducky also hugged Ziva, "Two more granddaughters to love and spoil. Congratulations, Ziva."

"Thank you, Ducky."

The hugging and sharing of the news was interrupted by several cries from the backyard. They all looked up to see Jimmy striding to the patio with a crying Charles in his arms. Tony was consoling Anthony and Tim was consoling a crying Katie. The other three children were standing around the two crying kids.

Jimmy stepped onto the patio, "Our pincher is at it again. He's also getting fussy." Breena took Charles from his father.

"I'll take him inside and see if he'll take a nap. That way you don't have to worry about tracking water all over inside." Jimmy nodded to Breena, and went back to make sure Katie and Anthony were okay. Anthony had stopped crying, and Tony was blowing raspberries on Anthony's arm, making the little boy laugh. Katie still had tears on her face, but she watched her uncle and cousin and started smiling.

"Funny, Daddy." She pointed to Uncle Tony and Anthony, and Tim smiled at his daughter. He gently tickled her side and she started laughing. Tali had a pail of water from the pool and poured it over her Abba's head making all of the kids laugh. Tony picked up his Super Soaker and aimed it at Tali. She shrieked and ran behind Uncle Tim, who was still crouched down with Katie. The stream of water hit Tim in the face, and he picked up his Super Soaker, stood up, and aimed at Tony. The kids laughed even harder as Uncle Jimmy got caught in the middle.

Tony slipped on the wet grass and went down. Tim stood over him squirting his back with the Super Soaker and the kids dumped pails of water over him. Squeals of laughter from the children had the adults laughing. Ziva and Delilah shared a look; their big kids would always be kids at heart.

Gibbs watched his boys playing with their children, his grandchildren. He never tired of seeing the terrific fathers the three men had become. He was proud of each one of them. His girls were fantastic mothers, and his Ziver was glowing with her pregnancy. Life may have taken one family from him, but his family of the heart was a treasure to be cherished.


End file.
